Forex Market Hours
Live open/closed status for Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York forex sessions. Check overlap windows, UTC hours, and daylight saving shifts.
Active Overlaps Right Now
- London + New York (highest liquidity — 13:00–17:00 UTC)
Forex Market Session Hours
Standard UTC times. London and New York shift by 1 hour during daylight saving — see DST note below.
| Session | Opens (UTC) | Closes (UTC) | Key Pairs | IANA Zone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 22:00 | 07:00(next day) | AUD/USD, NZD/USD, AUD/JPY | Australia/Sydney |
| Tokyo | 00:00 | 09:00 | USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, GBP/JPY | Asia/Tokyo |
| London | 08:00 | 17:00 | EUR/USD, GBP/USD, EUR/GBP | Europe/London |
| New York | 13:00 | 22:00 | EUR/USD, USD/CAD, USD/CHF | America/New_York |
* Sydney session opens at 22:00 UTC and closes at 07:00 UTC the next calendar day.
The Overlap Windows — Where Volume Spikes
The London-New York overlap runs 13:00–17:00 UTC. Those four hours generate more volume than the Tokyo and Sydney sessions combined. If you're trading EUR/USD or GBP/USD and picking the wrong window, you're fighting thin liquidity.
9:00 AM – 1:00 PM EDT · 6:00 AM – 10:00 AM PDT · 6:30 PM – 10:30 PM IST
The most liquid window in forex. EUR/USD sees its tightest spreads and clearest trends. Both the world's largest financial centers are fully active — institutional desks in London are still running while New York opens. This is when most major news reactions play out.
10:00 AM – 5:00 PM AEST · 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM JST
Slower than the Western overlap, but consistent. AUD/JPY and NZD/JPY move most predictably here. Asian institutional desks are active. Spreads are wider than the London-NY window but tighter than any single-session period.
5:00 PM – 6:00 PM JST · 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM BST
Short, but sometimes sharp. European traders opening positions can create quick moves in JPY pairs as Asian liquidity starts thinning out. It's a one-hour window, so position sizing matters more here than timing.
What Is the Forex Market?
The foreign exchange market doesn't have a central exchange. It's a decentralized, 24-hour global network of banks, brokers, and institutions spread across four major financial centers: Sydney, Tokyo, London, and New York. When one closes, the next is already open.
"24-hour market" is technically accurate but misleading. Not every hour is equal. Liquidity — how easily you can execute a trade without moving the price — drops sharply when only one session is active. Spreads widen. Price action slows. Many retail traders pick up positions outside peak hours and wonder why their fills are poor.
The market runs Monday through Friday. It opens Sunday evening UTC (Sydney session) and closes Friday evening UTC (New York close at ~22:00 UTC). There's no forex trading on weekends.
📊 The forex market trades approximately $7.5 trillion per day — the world's largest and most liquid financial market, roughly 25× larger than global equity markets. — Bank for International Settlements, Triennial Survey 2022
Each Session, Explained
London Session — 08:00 to 17:00 UTC
London handles roughly 38% of global forex volume on its own. That's more than New York and Tokyo combined. It's the dominant session — when it opens, spreads compress and volume jumps sharply from the quiet Tokyo tail-end.
EUR/USD, GBP/USD, and EUR/GBP are most active here. If you're trading European pairs, London is your window. The first 1–2 hours after the 08:00 UTC open tend to be the sharpest — institutional orders accumulated overnight get executed at open.
One wrinkle: the UK observes British Summer Time (BST), shifting the session to 07:00–16:00 UTC from late March to late October. The US observes EDT during a similar but not identical period, creating a brief mismatch in spring and fall.
New York Session — 13:00 to 22:00 UTC
New York opens at 13:00 UTC — exactly when the London-NY overlap begins. The first four hours (13:00–17:00 UTC) are the highest-volume period of the entire trading week. This is when EUR/USD daily range is most likely to be set.
USD pairs dominate: EUR/USD, USD/CAD, USD/CHF, GBP/USD. US economic data releases (NFP, CPI, FOMC) hit during this session and cause the biggest intraday moves in the market. Your 9:00 AM Eastern standup is 13:00 UTC — right at the open.
After 17:00 UTC when London closes, volume drops significantly. The 17:00–22:00 UTC window is New York solo — less liquid, wider spreads, but still active enough for most strategies.
Tokyo Session — 00:00 to 09:00 UTC
Tokyo represents about 6% of global forex volume — smaller than London or New York, but it's where JPY pairs move. USD/JPY, EUR/JPY, and GBP/JPY are most active here. Japanese institutional and retail participants set the tone for Asian trading.
The session is sometimes called the "Asian session" — it also includes activity from Singapore, Hong Kong, and other Asian financial centers that don't have their own named session. The Bank of Japan's policy decisions and Tokyo-specific economic data move this window.
Pairs like EUR/USD and GBP/USD tend to be quieter during Tokyo unless there's European or US news crossing wires. Good session for range-bound strategies on JPY crosses.
Sydney Session — 22:00 to 07:00 UTC
Sydney opens Sunday at 22:00 UTC — the first session of the forex week. Volume is lightest here, but it's not dead. AUD/USD, NZD/USD, and AUD/JPY are the pairs that actually move during this session.
The Sydney session crosses midnight UTC, which trips up traders calculating hours. It opens at 22:00 UTC Sunday and runs to 07:00 UTC Monday. The overlap with Tokyo (00:00–07:00 UTC) is the most liquid part of the Australian trading day.
Australia observes AEDT (UTC+11) in summer and AEST (UTC+10) in winter, so the session shifts slightly depending on the time of year. The IANA identifier Australia/Sydney handles this automatically.
Daylight Saving Time — How It Shifts Forex Hours
The US and UK don't switch their clocks on the same day — they're usually about 3 weeks apart in spring and 1 week apart in fall. During those gaps, the London-New York overlap shrinks from 4 hours to 3 hours.
The US springs forward on the second Sunday of March; the UK follows on the last Sunday of March — typically 2–3 weeks later. Between those two dates, the London session effectively opens at 07:00 UTC while New York still opens at 13:00 UTC, trimming the overlap to 3 hours. Check exact dates for any year at our daylight saving time page.
For traders: late March and the first week of November are the weeks to double-check your session times. Your broker's market hours calendar will reflect the actual shift.
Frequently Asked Questions
What time does the forex market open and close?
The forex market opens Sunday at 22:00 UTC (Sydney session start) and closes Friday at 22:00 UTC (New York session end). It's open continuously Monday through Friday with no breaks — though liquidity varies significantly by session.
What is the best time to trade forex?
The London-New York overlap — 13:00 to 17:00 UTC — is the highest-liquidity window. EUR/USD and GBP/USD have the tightest spreads and clearest price action here. That's 9:00 AM–1:00 PM EDT or 6:00 AM–10:00 AM PDT.
Is forex closed on weekends?
Yes. No forex trading on Saturday. The market closes Friday around 22:00 UTC when New York shuts down, and reopens Sunday around 22:00 UTC with the Sydney session. Cryptocurrency markets trade 24/7; forex doesn't.
Which forex session has the most volume?
London handles roughly 38% of global daily forex volume — more than any other session. The London-New York overlap (13:00–17:00 UTC) concentrates the highest volume into the shortest window.
What time is 13:00 UTC in my timezone?
13:00 UTC is 9:00 AM EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) · 8:00 AM CDT · 6:00 AM PDT · 6:30 PM IST · 9:00 PM AEST. Use the Time Zone Converter below to check any specific UTC time in your timezone.